closet pullouts

allen levine

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new york city burbs
Im looking for an idea here.
this small hall closet, is a mess constantly, and we can never get anything off the back of the shelves.kitchen reface 155 (Medium).jpg

I really need a project, Im going through woodworking withdrawal, spent the last few days making toy cars and cutting boards.kitchen reface 157 (Medium).jpg

The walls are 60 year old plaster walls.

so I got to thinking, instead of just trying to attach wood to attach full extensions slides, why not just build a plywood cabinet and insert it directly into the closet. My thoughts being, the walls in that closet are so uneven, not plum top to bottom, bumpy, lumpy, making an insert cabinet will eliminate any frustrations I might have trying to hang drawer slides evenly. Besides, I wont have to paint the bottom part where I put the sliders, as the plywood would look much better.
Im only installing pullout drawers the bottom 5 feet of the cabinet, higher wont make sense.

any thoughts?help
 
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just thought Id throw this in this thread
my daughter thinks shes cute.(well, she is cute, but she is trying to be cutsie)
shes always complaining I direct all my woodworking energies towards my sons home and making him furniture.
I never make her anything.
So, I know she wants a new car, so I gave her one of the simple toy cars I made out of the cherry scraps in the firepit bin.
I found it last night on her dresser, she wrote herself a message.

now that message is quite ironic, since Ive given her 2 cars the past 8 years, and when I gave them to her, they were fairly new, and in mint condition. She seems to be a magnet for fenderbenders, and has creamed the jeep I gave her. Not a spot on it which doesnt have a dent or ding.

ya gotta luv ya kids.
 

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Storage cabinet sounds like a great idea. Could also do a door rack that lets you put smaller frequently used items on it. May even consider a pull out table (using 100 lb slides) to give you a surface to set items on that are on shelves up higher if you need to sort through something. I've got two old file cabinets in my shop I use for tool storage. They each have a surface like this which lets me pull out a tool and un-case it there when I need it. Similar to this...
 

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Everyone I have ever installed pullouts for raves about them. LOML's mom loves the ones in the kitchen because she can stoop down to reach back in the deeper lower cabinets anymore. LOML loves the ones in her pantry because there is no way anyone can keep a narrow cabinet 20-odd inches deep organized. With the pullouts you just pull and everything is right there in front of you, easily accessed. So, it depends on what you put in there but, I love pullouts. Rather than building a whole free standing carcass, I would attach ply to the side walls using shims to get them plumb and just attach the glides there.
 
thats the reason Im putting in the pullouts. cant access anything on the back of the bottom shelves.
It just limits the width a bit more, since the door doesnt open fully.
Id have to make the cabinet slightly less to fit in the width of the walls.
the way I figure, lose a few inches on the side, gain 10 inches that we couldnt reach before in the back.
 
Make a cabinet to fit thats about 3" less in width. This will allow you to make everything in the shop and clearance for the hinge side of the door. Mount the slides using a series of 5mm (3/16") holes spaced about 1-1/2" apart so as your needs change you can easily change the location of the slides.
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Norma has already changed the spacing on her pullouts under her sink a few times since I installed them.
 
making it all in the shop is how Im thinking.

I dont have hardware to make adjustable slides, figuring must need something to clip the slides into the holes, not looking to add any expense to this.
I have alot of slides.
 
making it all in the shop is how Im thinking.

I dont have hardware to make adjustable slides, figuring must need something to clip the slides into the holes, not looking to add any expense to this.
I have alot of slides.

The only thing you would purchase would be the 5mm euro screws. If need be I'll mail you some.
 
I went a slightly different way with our pantry. I put in heavy (3/4" ply) shelves with full supports on 3 sides (back left, right) made from 1x2s and then fastented the slides on the shelves with a sliding shelf on top of the fixed shelf. You loose a smidge of top to bottom space (I think it worked out to about 2" per shelf) but gained some ease of installation since I didn't have to build a full insert cabinet.

I wouldn't argue that a cabinet could/would probably look slightly nicer but it looks pretty ok.
 
something like this?


All Roll outs in the bottom section. I make the box so the face frame sits flush with the walls, then case it just like the pass doors.
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Easiest way I've come up with for mounting slides in a pantry cabinet, (I do it in bases now too), is I take sticks whatever length I need, and whatever width I need to get the slides/pullouts to clear the hinge hardware and I throw them in the line bore and space them out to mount the slides. I just use a 5mm euro screw to attach them. They are also semi adjustable this way as well.


I've got a box in the shop right now that's setup this way. I'll try and remember to take a picture tomorrow.
 
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thats pretty karl, but I dont want to take out the closet door and build new doors.

ah, but now that Im looking at it........would make a heck of a difference space wise, and would definately look alot better, and the upper doors would just open to shelves, no pullouts. Gotta show the wife this picture.
There are 5 doors in that tiny hallway. All are the same panelled pine doors with dark stain. I hate working with pine, but I do like the look you just posted.

oh man carl, you just gave me a huge project. The wife just walked over and saw that pantry, now I have to make it, using my 12/4 pine, slicing it down to make multi panel doors, and then find stain that matches. Its a done deal it looks like, thanks for showing me things above my level, please post a pic of the inside of the box, and someone explain what those 5 mm euro screws do and how they make the slides adjustable.

I have quite a bit of salice 1/2 inch overlay hinges left, so it will be overlay doors.
 
yeah, but its more for building it than anything. You can build the roll outs out anyway you want, its just the easiest I've come up with. Adjustable is just a bonus.
 
yeah, but neither of you guys are being nice to me. both of you are professionals, cabinet makers, real pros, years and years of experience, and now my wife expects something that will fit into the old crooked house closet I have,(something that will come close to what Karl has posted) and I dont know if I can get something to fit in my crooked house anywhere as nice as that. Especially since there is a column that limits the amount of work space in front of the closet, making things very tight.
Its like showing me a new 100 thousand dollar sports car when Im looking for a 25 thousand dollar family minivan.
Here goes nothing.
Id also have to leave the top of the cabinet open to access the area up on to that goes all the way up to the ceiling, not looking to lose any storage space in my tiny home.
 
thanx for the responses.
will get out to pick up some plywood as soon as rain stops, not in a rush with this at all, it has to keep me busy until next year along with a few small projects Im fiddling around with.
 
and now my wife expects something that will fit into the old crooked house closet I have,(something that will come close to what Karl has posted) and I dont know if I can get something to fit in my crooked house anywhere as nice as that.

No big deal. That's what the casing is for. If the hole is say 33" wide, make the face frame 32" wide. Just like you were setting a door. Now you've got an inch of room to play with. Same with the height. I would squeeze the box in from the outside edge of the face frame as much as you can. I typically do a 1/4" pocket on the interior for things like this. You can build out the outside of the box so its flush with the face frame with scraps of whatever. Hell, even a ripped down 2x4 works just fine, and its cheap. The you just shim it out plum and level and screw it into the studs/cripples. Also, if I'm looking for a 2" reveal on the face frame, I'll make it 2-1/2", so I've got 1/2" to nail my casing to.

You're making this sound way more difficult than it is. :thumb:

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